The fund will be used to back entrepreneurs who plan to turn their enterprises into next-gen, billion-dollar companies. The duo will back entrepreneurs who will build institutions through a platform they call 'The Fundamentum Partnership', reported The Times of India.

Amazon's rapid rise and marketshare gains are making the competition run helter-skelter. Amazon's rise, in fact, coincided with the fall of Snapdeal, India's third-largest marketplace in an e-tailing industry worth $16 billion.

After ploughing about $2 billion into minority stakes in Indian e-commerce businesses over the past few years, Japan's SoftBank is upping the stakes, looking to play consolidator and take a more active role at a trio of leading start-ups.

On August 19, e-commerce company AskMe decided to shut shop which left about 4,000 of its employees jobless. A variety of reasons, from weak technology to aggressive acquisitions, are responsible for the online retailer's failure.

After two years of growing at a scorching pace, led by acquisitions, it seems things are not going well for AskMe. Recently, there were reports that the company has laid off 600 employees, reducing its workforce to 3,500. The company says this was part of its annual workforce rationalisation exercise.

The investment momentum in Indian start-ups rocketed over the past five years. PE activity in 2015 touched an all-time high - investments totalled 1,049, over 600 of them in start-ups. The stars of Indian e-commerce became super stars.